


Off with the Current

by silkscream



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Character Death, M/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:47:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21744007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silkscream/pseuds/silkscream
Summary: My thing for jyp jukebox for the prompt We Sink - Of Monsters and MenI’m very not confident in it lmao bc I’ve been a little uninspired but nevertheless, here’s my attempt. Sorry in advance lmfkskdkdk
Relationships: Kang Younghyun | Young K/Park Jaehyung | Jae
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19
Collections: JYP JUKEBOX ROUND 2: OF MONSTERS AND MEN





	Off with the Current

**Author's Note:**

> My thing for jyp jukebox for the prompt We Sink - Of Monsters and Men
> 
> I’m very not confident in it lmao bc I’ve been a little uninspired but nevertheless, here’s my attempt. Sorry in advance lmfkskdkdk

The sound of water rushing with the current reverberates against the mounted rocks and the edges of the marble bridge Brian stands on. Water sprays in tiny droplets onto his windbreaker, some making it all the way to his cheeks. It’s freezing cold, but Brian has gotten used to it from the many times he’s been here.

He rubs the back of his hand over his mildly damp face and sniffs before casting a quick glance over the vicinity. The river is as harsh as it always has been and it reminds him that he shouldn’t be here, but he decides there’s really no better day than today. He’s all alone, but not for long because he’s expecting someone very soon. It’s a friend he only comes to see when he’s in a certain place and time, a certain state of mind.

It’s only a few more intakes of breath and a couple of seconds of shutting his eyes before a familiar figure approaches him in small measured steps. He sends the other a knowing look paired with a tiny hint of a smile.

“Yo, you look like death.” Says Jae in lieu of a greeting along with his usual shit-eating grin.

Brian scoffs at the irony in Jae’s comment before sitting himself by the edge of the narrow bridge. It has prominent cracks on the sides and displaced bricks on either end. It looks and feels days short of collapsing totally but it somehow retains a tiny bit of its integrity. Cars actually used to be able to drive over it before an unfortunate accident that happened a couple of years back. They didn’t bother rebuilding it and decided to construct another one that’s much more accessible, much safer. Brian wishes they built it sooner.

“It’s easy to look like you’re dying when that’s exactly how you feel.” Brian replies.

“Why so glum?” Jae asks with a tilt of his head.

Brian doesn’t grace him with an answer and takes something out of his jacket pocket and hands it over to Jae.

It’s a photo from two years back, five of them, Brian, Jae, Dowoon, Sungjin and Wonpil flashing their biggest smiles for the camera. It was a bright, sunny day, and they were happy. It’s a shame though, because none of them can remember it as the fond memory it was.

“Ah, you remembered. We looked so young. Dowoon still has his retainers.” Jae lets out a snort.

“You look the same.” Brian deadpans.

Jae looks down at himself before directing his gaze back to Brian. “True.” He’s currently wearing the same exact clothes he was donning in the photo.

“Exactly the same.” Brian adds, sullen.

Brian closes his eyes tightly and opens them again. The male before him changes from the flush, bright Jae similar to the one in the photo to one with slightly ashen skin and purple lips, water dripping down from his wet hair down to his body while his clothes stick to his skin. Brian’s heart sinks once more.

This is because the dead present themselves in the way they were last seen alive, and Jae had been alive and screaming for his life when the current had reeled him in like a onesided game of tug of war.

Brian fights back the memories from flashing before his eyes because the nightmares were more than enough. The guilt from not being able to save their friend had made its mark palpable on him and the others. But only Brian has been brave enough to stay.

Brave? Perhaps. It’s brave to remain in a place where the past haunts relentlessly, whereas Dowoon and the rest have decided to go on with their lives separately in hopes of forgetting. Brian knows they won’t, specially not Wonpil who had always seemed the closest to Jae.

The five of them had hung out after Dowoon had graduated college a couple years back. It had been a while, and Wonpil had the bright idea of going on a road trip. It didn’t happen like they planned though, instead it had been a half-assed decision to go on a late night drive after a whole day of messing around the small town they all shared.

Brian had suggested driving his pick-up over that bridge to go to the other side of town faster, with the others agreeing wholeheartedly, including Jae. If they had known what was going to ensue, that the fragile bridge beneath them would cause the ride to hiccup and Jae—who’d been sitting in the pick-up with Dowoon—to fall into the raging river, they wouldn’t have dared. 

“It’s not your fault, Bri.” Jae says reassuringly, but Brian isn’t sure he can take the word of someone who isn’t even really here.

Brian scoffs and shakes his head. “I don’t even know what I’m doing here, talking to you. You’re not real.”

Jae shrugs, “I’m the realest and the illest, though.”

“Shut up.” Brian feels the sting on the brink of his eyes because he hears Jae’s laugh loud and clear despite the resounding crash of water against rocks and the harsh flow of the river.

He’d always been good with compartmentalizing. His friends have relied on him and admired him for it. They just didn’t realize how much of the process was taking its toll on him.

“If I wasn’t real, would I be able to tell you I loved you?” Jae responds, tone serious.

Brian suppresses a sob. He knew how the older felt about him and was never able to give him a response. It was hard when he considered Jae a good friend, no more and no less. Brian always believed you should never feel guilty about not reciprocating someone’s feelings, but with that and everything else, Brian finds himself drowning in remorse. He could have at least said something.

The night it happened was right after Jae’s confession. Brian remembers it vividly. He remembers the unhinged feeling it brought him because the last thing he wanted was for things to change between him and Jae. The way he’d managed to maneuver the topic with expert ease that time right before the five of them went on that late night drive by the river bend is clambering in his chest. He should have said something, anything.

“You still worried about that?” Jae asks as if he’d read Brian’s mind. Or he’s in Brian’s mind. “You didn’t need to say anything Bri. I wasn’t expecting you to. It’s all good.”

“You’re making it worse.” He tells Jae while fervently trying to dry his eyes.

“Sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. You have no idea, Jae. I’m sorry. We all are.” Brian croaks.

“I know, Bri. I keep telling you.” Jae turns to face him with a small smile. “You guys are good. Tell the others too, yeah?”

Brian exhales sharply, deciding he’s done for today. He isn’t sure why he subjects himself to this whenever he’s feeling particularly sad or when he’s missing Jae.

“Yeah. Sure.” He responds with a heavy sigh.

“It sounds cliche but it’s time to move on.”

“Yeah.” Brian nods. “Right.” He’s said this many times before.

Jae straightens up, standing a few centimeters taller than Brian himself. “I’ll see you around, Bri.”

Brian shakes his head. “I hope not.”

Jae laughs again, that boisterous kind Brian remembers all too clearly. He swallows a lump in his throat and stands up as well.

It takes only a few seconds, Brian closing his eyes and opening it again to see no one else is there. It’s just him and the river in its full force.

Jae is gone with the current—just like he’s been in a long time. 


End file.
